A view from the Oak Orchard lighthouse in 1888
By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian
CARLTON – Our photo posted here, which has recently come to light, was taken in 1888 from the top of the lighthouse at the Oak Orchard Harbor.
The building to the left was known as The Orleans House. The white building behind the trees is now the Black North Inn. Next to it is a mobile photographer’s wagon which advertises on its side, “Photography Car.”
This was a studio on wheels that would have been pulled around by a team of horses. The other buildings near it were part of the Selheimer & Beckwith lumber and coal business.
To the right we see the west pier where the lighthouse was located. A raised walkway for people leads to the lighthouse. It is perhaps John Kelley, the lighthouse keeper who is standing on the pier.
Note the number of iron cleats for boats to tie up. To the very far right in the distance is the lighthouse keeper’s house. This later became the Archbald residence.
The U.S. government gave up maintaining the lighthouse in 1904. The lighthouse was toppled in a wind storm in 1916.
